The Mermaid And The Cabin Boy
by SevenRenny
Summary: It was hard to tell fantasy from reality. Truth mixed with lies, mixed with misunderstandings, mixed with miscommunication of people with weak hearing but a strong desire to gossip. The badly portrayed fishwoman on the page looked nothing like what he'd seen. The real one was pretty, with a pretty voice and pretty face and pretty laugh. Fantasy IzuOcha


_Note: Fantasy AU, Season 4 spoiler_

**The Mermaid And The Cabin Boy**

**SevenRenny**

It was hard to tell fantasy from reality. Truth mixed with lies, mixed with misunderstandings, mixed with miscommunication of people with weak hearing but a strong desire to gossip. Paper and letters were made by hand, and hands told what minds told: truths and lies and stories. His fingers glided over yellow-old paper imported from who knows what country. Ink lines were thin around curves, fat when straight. The tired candle on the plate-shaped candleholder flickered as it ate away at the blacked string.

Wood creaked. Metal swung. Boots thumped. Crewmates snored.

The book smelled older than any person could live. The author was dead, unless he was immortal. He couldn't have lived past a hundred-and-something. That was according to the author referring to his age every now and then. Izuku wasn't ready to lose track of where he was reading to check. It was difficult to read with one candle on.

There were inconsistencies with consistencies. Some things matched things he'd seen, while others didn't sound logical. What was the difference between monsters and… everything else? He'd seen sharks. He'd seen whales. He'd seen whale sharks.

He hadn't seen Sea Serpents, or Krakens, or Selkies.

There was an abstract drawing of a snakey creature twirling with a person in its mouth and a ship presumably in the background. The monster that ate a whole civilization overnight; stopped by the great All Might. According to the author, the story was of word of mouth, so the illustration was from his dreams. As silently as he could, he turned the page once, twice, and ran his hand down the paper. The upper body of a person and lower half of a fish. It was the least believable of the 'monsters', yet, the most talked of, the most known about, and the most intriguing. There was little detail on the illustration; just a head, dots for eyes, some S lines for hair, balls for breasts, claws for hands, and a childish drawing of a tailfin.

The author retold what he'd heard. According to him, stories differed from one person to another. Some described them as more fish-like with scales from head to tail with piranha teeth preventing their mouths from fully closing. Some said they heard the most beautiful lullabies that made their minds numb and ship lose coarse. Some said they saw pretty nude women in the middle of the calm sea. Make them angry and they dive to cast storms. They were, in some ways, the same story with tweaks. So many accounts, all different, but all with fishpeople. He took notes in his thin notebook, dipping his pen in precious ink and recording his thoughts.

A rustle came from behind him.

Someone grunted with frustration. "Blow it out, man."

Izuku assumed the sleepy crew member was referring to the candle. "I'm sorry!" he whispered back, minding the slumbering crew draped lazily in their bunks and hammocks. His notebook was the last to be put away as ink took some time to dry. His undershirt unbuttoned at the top and belt open, he settled in his side in his tiny sleeping corner, feeling gravity fluctuate with the ship.

…

He peeled potatoes for the cook, washed used cooking pots, mopped the floors of the deck, ran errands and took the watcher's shift. Salty sea air was the norm. He stood by the ropes when land was visible, ready to work on them when order to. A wide palm clapped him on the shoulder. The force almost made him buckle to his knees.

"Morning, my boy!" The Captain greeted confidently. "I see you're full of energy already." He grinned, standing tall and proud.

Izuku smiled. "All Might!"

"Land closing in, Captain!" Mei announced from the watchtower. Her eyes were the best for such tasks.

Captain Might riffled his messy hair. "Help out with the ropes. I'm needed elsewhere."

"Yes, sir!"

Activity on board mimicked the sea. It would be relaxed for hours, and then be a mess of movement within seconds. Seagulls would dive near the coast where wet nets were pulled out along with tangled gills and fins, and slippery fish got thrown in baskets. Pinching crabs had their own barrels. Hairy dogs walked around with no owners, sniffing about for easy seafood. Men yelled and someone whistled for attention and shoulders bumped to make way. Shoppers and sellers exchanged goods. Wooden cartwheels click-clocked over cobblestone. The plank connected the wobbling ship to the wooden dock. The waves sloshed – the sounds clearer down here.

Upon his step down the plank, people cheered for the mighty Captain. They recognized his signature booming laugh. The Almighty All Might was famous for his heroic deeds, from sailing the deadly seas to slay the monsters terrorizing vulnerable islands, to retrieving stolen treasures from feared pirates and apprehending sea-criminals. "Rest easy, everyone, for All Might guards the seas like your faithful lighthouses light up your ports." He bowed.

The cheers responded by getting louder.

A tired voice interrupted him from behind. "You're blocking the way," quartermaster Shota grumbled.

The Captain looked back to see his crew handling empty boxes and barrels that need refilling or half-full crates of food gone bad in need of being replaced for travel.

All Might coughed awkwardly into his fist and moved aside. "Yes, of course. Excuse me. Go on ahead, lads."

He was an overall friendly man with the people, and a terror to enemies. Izuku had seen him pray open a shark's jaws with his own hands to free a sailor's leg. He heard of his fight with the giant crab that crumbled buildings and stabbed at people with its pointed legs – saw crude drawings depicting the event and read of how Might threw it back into the sea. Sea creatures were not much harm. Just redirect them back to where they came from. Pirates, on the other hand, destroyed for selfish reasons. Some liked to fight tooth and nail. Some simply jumped off ship to save themselves as soon as All Might directed the ship for confrontation. Runaways didn't have many connections to the ship. It was the captain who would willingly sink with the ship. That was something Izuku understood with time. A sinking ship would often hold people; though, there were the occasional ghost ship stories of vessels steering themselves with no one on board.

"Move it, nerd!" Someone jammed a wooden box against his back, snapping him out of his thought whirlpool. Izuku yelped and juggled his own box of leftover vegetables and weathered greens and hopped out of the way.

…

He wasn't much for crowds. He wasn't exactly the rough and tumble kind of person. So when most of the crew got to drink and mess about at the bar later that afternoon, he simply took his bread slice, beef cut, and bottle of ale water someplace else. He was sure a fight would break out and he wasn't ready to lose food that wasn't dried or salted. Arm-wrestles would morph into full-on brawls. People would be tossed and tables would break and teeth would fly. He was sure his heart had stopped during one of those. With the hard life at sea and rough life on land, it was a miracle how he was still alive. He was born too early, he'd been told. He'd been a tiny baby – too small to survive the harsh world. And yet, his mother loved him every second, fully aware he had a high chance of dying early. Even when he proved everyone wrong, he was still a very weak child. He wasn't sure how she agreed to let him work for the protection of the sea. She'd been reluctant, but hopeful. He lived this far. He could live longer. Even when everyone was sure he would die. He never did. What they believed and what truly happened were different things.

Almost done with his bread, he plucked a bit off and tossed it into the waves. A seagull missed it the first time, but caught it the second time. He leaned his elbows against the rope railing, swinging his feet over the waves.

"Something the matter, my boy?" All Might crouched to his level and his knees made cracking sounds.

Izuku shook his head no. "Nothing."

All Might didn't look convinced. Grunted, he folded his legs to sit next to the boy, then placed his oversized hat on the kid. The thing looked like it was eating the kid's head. Izuku tilted the front of the hat to look up at him in confusion. "Ah, yes. Can never be too far from the waves. Can be lonely, sometimes." He clapped the boy on the back. "How are you holding up, lad?"

Izuku sensed the Captain was slowly steering him into a specific topic. "Oh, I'm – I'm fine." His first few days on board hadn't been easy. He'd vomited everything he ate, refused to eat because of nausea, slept like the dead, and had the weirdest hallucinations. "I'm a lot better than before. I think I'm getting used to things."

"That's good to hear," All Might said and looked at the waves. "Good to hear, my boy. Any lady friends you fancy on the ship?"

Okay, not the conversation he was expecting. "What–! I!" His cheeks turned a bright of pink.

"You're young. No harm in it." The man leaned in and held up a hand to his mouth as if what he was about to tell him was top secret. "Heard the young ladies love a young man in uniform. How about a stroll downtown? Might catch someone's interest – you never know."

"All Might!" Izuku's voice came out as a squeak.

The man laughed. "Just a suggestion! Love is a wonderful thing! I don't wish for you to miss out. Don't be old and single like me."

Izuku ran a hand down his face as if trying to cool down his blush. "You're not old, you're All Might."

…

He never did go downtown. He always managed to embarrass himself in social settings. Maybe he was just not built for socialization, even though he wanted to be like everyone else, like how talking to people was just so easy. A stroll down the sandy beach didn't need preparation or too much thought into words he didn't need to use. The sand was loose. He'd stand on it with no problems, but his boot would sink after a step. Natural rocky cliffs surrounded the waters were people didn't (or just couldn't) build structures near. Closer to the waves that came and went, sand became tiny shells. He would have mistaken the shells for sand grains wit how small they were if only they weren't more orange in color. Piping plovers ran on speedy, skinny feet. Seawater-glazed rocks and mops of seaweed hid beached clams.

There was a sharp shape in the water's distance. It was stuck in place. An old shipwreck tilted to the side, the bottom half submerged; the whole thing dark brown from soaking for so long and covered in aging greenery. The tides would eventually engulf it. For now, pelicans found it a suitable resting spot.

Pulling out his gloves from his pocket, he slipped one on, and the wind stole the other, dropping it in the sloshing water. Sighing, he stuffed his hand in his pocket. His stroll came to a stop when dirt was spat out from a hole in the ground. He stared at the sandy creature struggling in the hole, kicking sand but not going anywhere.

Flippers. A disk-like body.

Realization struck him. At once, he ran to it, got on his knees to pull the sea turtle upright and out of the nest hole it had somehow flipped into. It had dug itself into a sandy grave with its efforts to right itself. The clutch of eggs it had been trying to bury was mostly covered thanks to all the restless flipper slapping the turtle had been doing in trying to get out. It looked like a fairly old turtle with a number of large barnacles on its shell.

The turtle slapped the ground, agitated. "It's okay. Here, you can go." He offered the turtle a push and it crawled for the ocean, leaving crescent shapes in the sand behind it where its flippers moved about. The waves came and splashed the sea creature face first. It kept crawling and eventually sank into the water, into a world unknown to him.

He read of what could be down there; underwater worlds and creatures that called darkness home. The turtle didn't need a ship to explore the seas.

There was a splash from the water. A wet hand slapped him in the face.

He stood for a moment in utter confusion as his wet glove slipped off his face and he managed to catch it when it fell. He inspected the glove. Yes. That was most definitely his glove. His eyes caught movement of bright colors in the foamy waves. For a split second, he saw a pink fin slap the water on its way down. His glove dribbled in his hand, soaking his other glove. Eyes wide, he searched for it again. Nothing. But then, the glove…

"Deku!"

His heart skipped a beat. Turning, he saw Tenya wave at him with both arms to catch his attention, and an unhappy Katsuki.

"Damnit, I've been looking all over for you! Get your ass over. Weird ship. No flag. Hurry up."

"C – coming!" Izuku took a quick look back at the beach before reluctantly running off.

A head peered out of the water. Brown eyes watched him scramble off. It had been years since she'd gotten this close to a stranger. The last stranger to see her had been willing to slice her. Her parents would be uneasy about how close she got to humans. Diving back down, her feathery pink tail (black at the tips) folded with her kicks. Light from the surface broke into lines that blurred with small particles. Fish hid in corals for safety. Wormy garden eels slipped back into the sand as she swam by. Anemone swayed with the current. Schools of fish scattered out of her way, though the stripped angelfish were too bust flirting by the seabed with one another to care.

She ventured into the shipwreck through one of the gaps of the wooden ribcage skeletal structure. The ship had deteriorated over time and had lost bits and pieces. Resurfacing, she dragged herself by her hands and climbed over a wooden beam, letting the tip of her tail dangling, sloshing and stirring the water.

She wasn't sure why she was attracted to this island in particular. It was far from the sanctuary free of humans, where merfolk could sunbathe without worry of attracting sailors. Maybe she struggled to find merfolk of her age, or maybe she wasn't satisfied and wanted more, or maybe she just wanted something new. That boy was very much new. Her curiosity was on a dangerous level. She'd heard of humans and merfolk meeting in stories only, with most depicting the merperson as only wanting love, and the human as greedy, cruel and deceiving.

But stories were stories.

They told some truth, but not all. Word of mouth tended to tweak tales over time.

Folding her arms and resting her head over them, she waved her tail playfully as she hummed herself to sleep.

…

The sudden vibration and boom jolted her awake. Instinctive urgency ran through her veins. Plunging back into the sea, she slipped out of her shipwreck home and zigzagged, searching for what had made that abnormal sound. It had come from below the seas – she was positive of that. A herd of yellow fish swam right at her. She shielded her face with her arms and the hard exploded, scattering and swimming in a hurry past her in all directions.

Another boom, and she felt pressure in her head and chest, as if giant hands clapping the surface. More sea-dwellers swam past her, disoriented. In a distance – a black shape at the top of the water. Dead fish swayed with their tails and fins tangled up in black net being pulled up. Limp fish drifted down, scales a pale color, eyes gray.

A glass bottle plopped into the water, sinking fast, weighed down by a sandy mixture inside. Before she could investigate any further, the bottle exploded in a white flash – a ring of air bubbles ruptured around it. The force of the tiny dynamite was a kick to the skull and Ochaco was sent spinning back. There was no up or down anymore. A net engulfed her, tangling her. The ropes were being pulled up, then simply went limp. A commotion came from above – a possible interference with the fishing ship. A turtle stopped near her, hovering, waiting. She grabbed hold of its shell and let it take her wherever with the net dragging behind.

Down below, where sea creatures sat at the very bottom, sand-covered eyelids snapped open. The man-sized eye stared up. The bottom of a ship was in the sky.

…

They'd thought it was an illegal fishing vessel with how they used explosives too close to the island. However; there was no flag, and yet they didn't bother trying to be silent. Izuku didn't like that they'd had to sail close – just close enough for confrontation. He also panicked when the unknown crew threw bottles containing powdery explosives right onto their ship. They'd had to scramble out of the way to avoid the explosion of shards. The ship had refused to budge when other ships would've tried to get away from capture. They had canons but did not use them. Havoc stopped once All Might managed to board the unknown ship.

"It sleeps down there," one of the captured crew said.

Izuku wasn't sure what it was.

Just that it was there reason why they were here trying to stir it up.

On a small boat, he steadied himself and reached for the discarded net in the water with his hook, pulling the fish trap up. He collected as much of it as possible with each pull.

"Goddamn pirates. Cleaning up their mess," Katsuki grumbled on his own small boat. Seabirds hovered over the boats without beating their wings. Boats plus nets equaled fish. One bird got too close to Katsuki's head. "Buzz off!"

The net seemed never-ending. He'd heave up more and more, then tug when there was resistance. His boat drifted along with the tugs, being pulled along. He tugged, and a line stretched from his hands to the water. He wasn't sure when he'd drifted this far from Katsuki's boat. Holding the net, he gave it a flap to check how long it extended. The net stretched rope jumped, letting him know the rest of it was somewhere near the rocky walls. Dropping the collected net in a pail beside him, he rowed the boat closer.

He grabbed the net and repeated the motion. It was headed directly into a cave. It didn't seem natural. The direction of the net was if someone had dragged it in there. He gave the net another tug to make sure it was indeed heading inside. His boat knocked against rocks below. It was shallow here. He grabbed his hook and tapped the water, feeling the hard rocks. He stepped onto the shallow waters and dragged his boat over to leave it sitting on rocks, then tied one safety rope to a protruding stone, and another longer one to his waist.

The net had been dragged out of the sea and into there. Water droplets fell from the spiky, salty roof. The deeper he went, the harder it got to breathe. Sea dampness made him sweat. Water level went from his thighs to down his knees. Visibility, while dim, was still there. The net kept going, even though there was little water current. A spotlight shone from a hole in the ceiling, landing directly on something colorful resting atop a small mountain of protruding black pebbles. The net ended there, tangled around a body of familiar color.

His steps stopped.

The fish had eyes of a human. The human had a tail of a fish. The half-human form was tiny, as small as him. Body parts that didn't belong together were together. Every scale on her pink tail glimmered, reflecting light from above. The silky fin at the end was heart shaped when she lifted it and smacked it down tiredly. Her exposed stomach, arms, breasts, face, were all very much human and free of scales. Petrified, intelligent eyes stared back at him. For a second, red gills flexed by the sides of her neck.

She shivered; whether because of being nude in the open or because of fear, he couldn't tell. She tried to heave herself up, then collapsed due to limited elbow movement. The yelp that came out of her was very much human. Human, feminine, and dare he say, cute.

His legs moved forward without his command. After only two steps, he froze in place. He could hear her breathing quickly, panicking. She eyed the hook still in his hand.

"It's okay," he whispered, letting go of the hook for the water to take. He held out his open palms. "It's – It's okay. See?" His heart was up in his throat, choking him. His voice cracked and the cavern echoed it back. "Can I – can I help?"

She looked at his gloved hands and the spiny dorsal fin on her lower back eased down to rest flat. The familiar tail connected with the one he'd briefly caught a glimpse of earlier.

"You're… you're the one I saw," Izuku whispered, more to himself. "Uh, hold on, let me–" He dug into his pocket and pulled out his gloves to show her. "Do you remember?" he asked hopefully.

She looked down almost shyly and nodded, her cheeks turning pink.

The realization that she understood and responded baffled him. He recalled the things he read: half human, half fish. But also: a beautiful voice that lured sailors in, and the power to cast storms. Her she was, tangled up in a net. No storms. No attempts to hypnotize him. Just scared. The human-made trap squeezed her shoulders and neck.

"I'll get you out, okay?" he said kindly. She tensed when he pulled out his knife. He hoped offering a smile would calm her. "I won't hurt you – I promise!" He pulled part of the net nearest to him and sliced a few lines. "See? It's okay. Just hold on – okay?" He had to keep in mind just how much of the human language she understood. She was afraid, but stood still as he started slicing closer. She bit her lip nervously when he got to the parts tangling her tightly. He felt her body temperature from how close he stood. The sound and feel of her exhales were all too real.

Stripping her of the lines, he stood back to allow her space. Her shoulders had been rubbed raw from her constant struggling.

She looked down at herself, inspecting his work, then smiled brightly at him and slapped her tail. A feminine laugh escaped her throat. Her sudden joy made him feel warm and fuzzy. She pushed herself back into the water, then made sure to splash loudly as she swam past him, flicking water at him on her way out. Her figure blurred as she went for deeper waters, disappearing. He was left standing with wet knees in the cave with ruined net to collect.

…

He scrolled through the ancient pages for answers, but he only found questions upon questions. The badly portrayed fishwoman on the page looked nothing like what he'd seen. The real one was harmless, more human than fish, intelligent. The real one was pretty, with a pretty voice and pretty face and pretty laugh.

The book didn't address her as a creature with intellect. It explained as if she were a hungry shark only doing what instinct told her to do. That hadn't been what he'd seen. She'd been afraid, but allowed him to free her. She'd smiled when he freed her. She'd returned his glove for no reason other than to return it. The lifeless illustration was nothing more than an attempt to explain what had never been experienced.

"Whacha reading?"

His instantly slopped down to block the pages with his own chest. Reading on the floor wasn't exactly practical.

His friend, Kirishima, chuckled and raised his hands innocently. "Okay. No peeking. Got it."

Izuku breathed out in relief. "Just scared me."

"Came to tell ya they're giving out porridge." Kirishima pointed over his shoulder with his thumb.

"Thanks. I'll be there in a minute." He needed time to think. Something this bizarre – this magical – was out there.

They remained in the docked ship with lit lanterns on the upper deck to light up the darkening late afternoon. Even while trying to eat, he stared at his bowl with blurry vision. Someone near him yelped when he got bumped by a clumsy dancer and hot porridge spilled over his crotch. Izuku stirred his spoon in his bowl, ignoring the chair being toppled over next to him.

"You okay, man?" Kirishima waved a hand between Izuku's face and the bowl.

He sat up from his slouched over position, blinking. "Ah – yeah. Sorry. Just thinking," he said, scratching the back of his head.

At the beach, the shipwreck was slowly being submerged as the tide came in. Inside, pretty monsters took refuge. The fishgirl flipped opened the old, dilapidated chest resting at the bottom of the ship. Slimy lines of algae evaporated at the crack. Humans lived on ships. Humans had boxes with stuff in them. Whatever was in a box, there was a chance humans would be familiar with it. She took the only two things the box held: neckwear, she thought. The people on shore often had strings around their necks. She wasn't sure why. Maybe Deku would know! She thought as she looped the strings around her wrist.

Pink tentacles crawled into the shelter. Ochaco's octopus friend squeezed through the ribcage of the ship and darted around for her, in a hurry to get back to the conversation Ochaco had swam away from.

"Wait – wait wait wait wait! Hold on. Back up." One of Mina's octopus tentacles waved and pointed back. "He just… walked over and helped you? He didn't, like, freak out or…?"

The mermaid began swimming back slowly, her hands grasping the wood for stability. "Well," Ochaco began, looking around nervously. "I thought he was going to pass out on me at first. I thought he wasn't breathing."

Mina stared for a while. "And then?" She crossed her arms and pairs of tentacles. One tentacle waved at her to continue her story.

"I… swam away?" Ochaco inched behind the beam, away from sight. Tsuyu – the frog girl perched on what used to be a step for stairs – offered a sympathetic ribbit.

Mina breathed in to compose herself. Well, she didn't stay composed for long. "You left?"

"Yes, but – I mean… it's not…" Ochaco cupped her own face. Why was this difficult? "It was so confusing – I didn't know what to do…"

"Could've asked him out for some oysters," Mina offered.

"Huh?" Why would she…? "I'm serious!" Ochaco pouted.

"So am I."

"Your fingers are glowing," Tsuyu stated.

To Ochaco's horror, she saw the pink pads on her fingertips glow a bright pink. The blush on her cheeks must've been a brighter shade of red. Embarrassed, she tried to hide he evidence by covering her face with her arms. "Nononono – this can't be happening!"

"Someone's happy. I support this!" Mina declared excitedly.

"What? No! Support what?" Ochaco panicked even more, capping her cheeks with her palms. "I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Human and a mermaid! What a love story." Mina spun happily and her octopus arms opened like a flower. A thought occurred to her and she halted. "Wait, how old was he? He better not be a geezer."

"Mina," Ochaco whined miserably, her hands reaching to cover her eyes in shame.

"Come on. Tell!" Mina swam beneath the beam. "Pleeeeease!"

Ochaco mumbled into her hands.

Tsuyu translated. "She said he was around her age."

"Yes!" Mina threw her hands out of the water. "Tell me more!"

"… and… poofy hair?"

"Go on."

"… and kind hands…"

Mina's grin grew to a disturbing length on her face.

"It's not what you think!" Ochaco shook her head, her fingertips still glowing. "This can't be happening."

"Oh, it's happening."

"He has legs."

"And I have tentacles. So what?"

"What am I going to do?" Ochaco slid off the beam and into the water, the rest of her words turned into bubbles. From what she understood, the Glow was a mix of embarrassment, joy, excitement, and to the storytellers: attraction (though, that one was simply a guess mostly believed by older merfolk). Were humans the same? Why did she have to glow after seeing him of all people? Sometimes, the Glow did mistakes. She was aware of that. Maybe this was a false alarm? Yes. Possibly. Maybe.

A tentacle pushed her up to the surface. "You stop being a guppy and act like a mermaid."

"I don't know how…"

Mina dropped an arm over Ochaco's shoulders. "I'll teach you – no worries! Any ideas where he might be?"

"I… think he dressed like ship people?"

…

Most were asleep downstairs. He scrubbed used bowls down in the kitchen, cleaned the mess on the upper deck and heaved the bucket of used water to pour down the side of the ship. He sat the bucket down and looked at where the cave had to be. It was hard to see from on the ship. The cave's mouth was nothing but a tiny shadow from this far. It was probably filled with seawater by now.

The cave's entrance glowed for just a few seconds. Izuku squinted. The lighthouse just got turned on, but the bluish light from the cave didn't resemble a reflection from the lighthouse.

The mermaid. Now an odd light.

He ran down the wooden steps in a hurry to get to his boat, failing to notice the frog-like creature stuck to the side of the ship.

"Ribbit. This isn't good." The frog-human turned around, her sticky limps stuck to the surface behind her. She catapulted herself to land as far as possible into the sea to cut down on swim time. She had to look for the human that fit Ochaco's description. It wasn't a hard task considering a ship was right there with a few boats filled with net. Swimming frog style, she reached the cave and resurfaced.

"He saw it. I think he's on his way, ribbit."

"He's what?" Mina yelped, almost dropping the crystal she was trying so hard to sit upright. Her tentacles worked fast to bury the bottom half of the human-sized crystal with rocks and pebbles.

"Are you sure this is all okay?" Ochaco nervously pulled on her wet hair. They had to be breaking some sort of rule for this.

"It'll be fine!" Mina assured her. The suckers on her tentacles made popping sounds when pulled off the crystal. "Don't worry. Me and Tsu will make sure he doesn't do anything weird. Now get over here and sit pretty."

Ochaco's eyes widened. "What? Why would –? I just want to talk to him. Why would I–" She panicked. She was never going to listen to the octopus woman ever again.

"Girl, trust me. I know what I'm doing," Mina said.

Tsuyu tilted her head questioningly.

Ochaco couldn't help but think this was a bad idea.

…

This was a bad idea.

The water was too deep now to dock it at the entrance. He continued to row right in despite his anxiety. The roof was closer to his head. With how spiky the ceiling was, he reminded himself not to stand anytime soon.

He would've thought a cave such as this would be pitch black given how the sun had gone down. However; it seemed brighter than before. A giant blue crystal blocked his way. Moonlight that seeped from the hole in the ceiling reflected off of the magical creation ten times brighter. The light bounced off walls, creating a bubbly underwater effect. That hadn't been there last time he was here.

A splash. A tiny wave came from behind the crystal. A dark blue blob appeared on the crystal. It moved to the side, and the mermaid stuck her head out from the side.

Very much human.

"Hey…" His voice quivered.

She ducked back into the darkness, and emerged closer to his boat, waving a tail at him.

"Hey," he repeated unconsciously. She was clear from the collarbones up. "You're… Oh wow. You're real." His voice was a whisper. She nodded, blushing and sinking a bit. "Can you… can you understand me?" He sat on his knees, hands gripping the lip of the boat.

She gave a quick node.

Amazed, he gave a breathy laugh. Through damp air and dark walls with bubbly water reflections and shiny crystal, she was the masterpiece of it all. "Can you… Can you talk?"

She opened her mouth, then closed it, thought it over, then tried again. "Some words…"

A chill rippled through him. He leaned forward unconsciously, and by the time he realized his mistake, the boat was already leaning. His fingers grazed the boat's side on his way down. Bubbles. Black water. Strings of blue light. A bubble escaped his lip, jiggling to the surface and sticking to the bottom of his boat. Glittery scales slipped by. Arms folded around him, hugging him. He was forced back up to the surface. Coughing and swallowing salty water, his fingers quickly grabbed at his wooden boat for anchor.

"Okay?"

He didn't think she could speak. He looked to his side, and there she was, tilting her head to look at him, her own hands holding on to his boat, checking his face, his mouth, examining his breathing. Satisfied and happy, she dipped down, only to pop up on the other side.

It was like seeing a happy dolphin up close. She kept disappearing and reappearing – a sort of hide-and-seek without going anywhere. What he saw moved faster than his mind could think.

He laughed. Why? He wasn't sure. Nothing was real anymore, and he was okay with that.

"Ochaco," she said happily and pointed at herself. "Name."

Okay. Okay, he understood that. "Ochaco's your name?" he asked just to be sure.

She gave a firm node. She then pointed at him and, to his surprise, utter words of a foreign language, then ended with what sounded like a question.

She knew words, but did not know how to put them together in a sentence. At least, that was his assumption. She pointed at him. "Deku?"

That caught him off guard. Oh. That's right. Kacchan had called him, back at the beach. He had to remind himself she probably had a short vocabulary. Explaining would most likely complicate things. "Yeah." He placed a hand over his chest. "They call me Deku."

She looked happy with that response. With her hands on his boat, he saw a pink glimmer seeping from beneath her fingers. She followed his gaze and seemed embarrassed with her fingers, retracting them into the water. They still emitted a faint purple through the black water.

The moon got into position in the sky. Light that slipped into the cave from the ceiling hole bounced off walls, going down, reflecting off of tiny crystals stuck to the ceiling, and hitting the big crystal. A froggy creature stuck to the walls moved out of the way so as to not block the light's path.

Izuku held up his arm to shield his eyes. His chest felt cold, like an icy flame tickling his ribs and throat and the sides of his head. He heard – No, felt her words.

"Can you… hear me?" She looked nervous but hopeful.

It wasn't a language with actual words, but thoughts transferred straight into his brain and translated into something he could understand.

"Does it work?" she asked again.

He tried to answer, but nothing came out of his mouth. His own voice vibrated in his head. "I think… I think I hear you…" There was no filter to his thoughts. It was hard to understand if he was speaking or thinking or both or neither. He hadn't used his vocal cords.

"It works!" she cheered, surprised but glad.

He wasn't sure what she meant by that. His question must've been visible on his face, or possibly voiced without his knowledge.

"Oh! That's… it's that," she said, nodding at the crystal. "My friend brought it from below. I didn't know how to talk to you so…" she trailed off, looking down shyly.

She'd thought of him, after he let her go. She had a friend, or possibly more down there in the blue. Looking back at the crystal, he wondered how this was pulled up. It was thin but tall. How heavy was it? Was it possible for one mermaid to bring it to the surface without sinking with it?

"It's lighter than it looks," she said after reading his mind. She ducked back into the water, then his boat started getting pushed closer to the sparkling stone. She was on the other side, pushing it.

Closer to it now, he squinted through moving rays that shoot out of the crystal. Tiny bubbles of different shapes and sizes were frozen inside. It was mostly gas stuck within. That explained the bubbly reflections. He thought of its formation, its potential size, of its possible mention in that book, if there were a city made out of it.

Ochaco giggled. "You think a lot."

He kept forgetting she could hear everything. "Sorry. I… sometimes do that…" he said aloud.

"I didn't say it was bad," she said. "Oh! I have something for you." She plunged into the water, then came back not a second latter. "Be right back!" She sank again.

He waited, holding onto the side of his boat, looking down, searching for any movement.

She broke the surface of the water and shook her head like how dogs shook water off. It sprayed him in the face. With how wet he was, it didn't matter. She presented a blue stone the size of a fist. A smaller jewel. The bottom half of the crystal was bumpy and full of holes like a sponge. "I thought I might give you something. I don't know what you'd like so… I grabbed what I thought was pretty."

He took it by the thick middle with one hand (and kept the other on the boat) and watched the light seep through its center and split into strings of light. It was treasure she gave so easily to him. The thought came back to him. She thought of him. He always wondered, in those lonely days down in the kitchen, if someone thought of him, if he wasn't as lonely as he thought. Mom possibly thought of him. He wasn't sure where Dad was. He was selfish, he knew. It was selfish to want to be wanted. He held the gift to his chest. He was selfish for not giving her anything, for not considering she was more than a mythical creature.

"Hey, it's okay!" She said, holding up her hands and waving them in front of her as if retrying to stop his thoughts. "I just wanted to say thanks! I didn't know how long you'd stay here. The ship people usually come and go."

Oh. He almost forgot about that. The ship would depart in the morning. They tended to circle the oceans.

"It's okay," she said. "If you want, we can meet again whenever you're back!"

"Are… are you sure?"

"Yeah! How about… here? Or you can call me at the beach! I stay in that ship a lot. You know – the one that doesn't move? It's all broken and has no people."

Yes. He knew that ship. The dead ship that no one used anymore. Well, maybe someone did use it after all. "I'd like that," he admitted.

…

She helped heave him onto his boat. He was all too wary of her nudity when he grazed more than her arms or when she showed a bit too much chest than he was used to. She seemed oblivious, though. Looking away or closing his eyes only made her confused.

"Oh, and," she fumbled with something on her wrist. "I found these, in a box back at the ship. I wasn't sure what they were. Thought you might know. Do you?" She handed them to him.

Yeah. "I do." Shells held by strings. "Necklaces. You put it on your neck." He held one loop open. "Do you wanna try it?"

She nodded, though uncertain, thinking it would chock her or perhaps make her experience unfamiliar sensations. The shell lied flat between her breasts harmlessly.

"Ohhh… okay…" She touched the shell with her padded fingertip. "It's pretty. What's it for?"

"For?" Izuku repeated the question to himself. "For…" He looked at the one in his hand. "Lots of reasons, I think. To remember something… or someone… or to feel something, or make others feel something about you…"

She listened and leaned against the boat. "Wow… do you have one on?"

"Me? No. I, uh, I never thought about it."

She grabbed his hand and forced it to close around the necklace he held. "What about this? Can you have this one?"

He thought about it, his cheeks going pink all the while. "This? You're giving me…? I mean… nothing says no – just… are you sure you want me to have it?"

"Of course!" she said happily. "Something to remember me by, right? And something to remember you, too!"

…

He rowed and she swam under his boat. She eventually grabbed the loose secure rope dangling from the front and began pulling the boat forward and out the cave. He'd occasionally see her tail wave just under the surface. It was an odd sensation, to have the boat move so fast without him needing to do anything. He had to grab the seat as to not fall back with how fast she managed to pull. Cold wind feathered at his cheeks and nose. Triangular waves formed behind the boat, drifting away, getting smaller with distance. The dock was close. The breeze slowed, as did the boat. She'd released the rope. He drifted and gently bumped the dock.

"I guess… this is goodbye? For now?" For now, he had to add. He wanted to stay up and talk all night. He wanted to hear her again and again.

She gave him a kind smile and lifted an open palm, showing the pink finger pads that had the shimmer to them. While they were not human hands, they still had the shape and functionality of them. When he nervously touched his palm to hers, he questioned the grey line between human and animal. Human and monster. Human and… everything else. What made so humans special if humanity was found in other beings?

"I'll see you… next time, okay?" he asked hopefully.

She gave a gentle nod, retreating back slowly.

He saw her swim a few feet away, stop to wave at him, then continue to swim off. A puff of mist formed by his mouth as he breathed out heavily. He bent down to tie the secure rope, his hands working automatically. His mind and eyes were in a blur. Cool wind chilled his bones. His wet boots squelched with each step on the lonely way back to the ship. Just as he walked in – a shadow of a tail flicked in the distance.

"Do I need to remind you its past curfew?"

Izuku stopped mid-step with one foot lifted. Shota never sounded happy, but sometimes, it was easier to tell if he was bored or ticked off or livid. Izuku hoped it was the second one. He craned his neck to the side, afraid of the look the older man might have on his face. From the looks of it, he was annoyed and stepping into angry. Izuku swallowed thickly. He was not looking forward to being tied up and hung upside-down from the mast.

The man managed to look intimidating while holding one of the mouser cats, Shino. He liked to collect cats and let them loose on the ship. They helped a lot with rodent control, especially Tomoko. Izuku took note that Ryuko – the short-tailed one – was… moody. She'd tiptoe down the kitchen to greet him with body-rubs and purrs, then turn around and scratch him. Tiger the muscular tom cat played rough, though he tended to occasionally follow people around.

"Well?" the man asked impatiently.

"I… uh…" Izuku stood straight, stiff as a stick.

Shota's tired but trained eyes searched him head to boots. "Why are you drenched?" His tone shifted to confusion.

"I… fell, sir."

Shino looked up at Shota when he stopped petting her. "You fell?"

"Yes, sir." Izuku could feel more questions forming in the man's eyes.

"What were you doing out?"

"I…" He shivered in his soaked clothes. "Wanted to… see a friend before we leave."

Shota stared at him for an awkwardly long time. The silence itself was punishment of its own kind. "Get changed and off to bed. I don't want to see you out here this late."

He couldn't believe it. "Really? I mean – yes, sir!"

"Last time I'm letting you off, you hear?"

"Yes. Thank you, sir!" He ran, stopped to add another 'thank you' and continued.

Shota heared a squawk of a wet boot and a thud; a pause, then more running. The man sighed. Shino hopped off his arm and he walked over to pull the plank in for the night, his eyes briefly going over the ripples folding over the calm waters. He didn't bring up the necklace line on the sides of boy's neck, the front part dipping into the front of the boy's shirt.

…

He dreamt that night.

She dreamt that night.

Maybe he had fines. Maybe she had legs. Maybe water and air were one and they could go up or down or all around. Maybe birds swim and fish fly. Maybe everyone spoke the same language. Nice people could stay nice and no bad guys to worry about. It was just a dream. All a dream – more than one dream. Brains did that; hop from one dream to another. Pretty lies. But lies were simply that, lies: a paper of words with nothing to prove or disprove them.

Sometimes, dreams weren't always pretty. Dreams of evil waves and muddy waters and floods and panic and confusion. He stretched in his sleep, feeling the world toss and turn. Something round rolled around. Bending wood creaked. He draped an arm over his eyes.

An elbow knocked the back of his head.

Startled and neck aching, he checked behind him only to see a number of the crew putting on their boots in a hurry. Some look just as sleepy and confused as him. A green bottle rolled on the floor, its contents slushing. The hammock beds all leaned to one side in unison, then to the other. The bottle rolled again.

"Fellas, what's going on? What'd I miss?"

"Did we set sail? I didn't hear a thing."

"No one called."

The ship tilted to one side in a more vicious manner. The boys standing staggered to one side, slapping their palms to the wall or sitting down on other beds. That was enough to inform of the change in behavior in the waves.

Katsuki aggressively banged his fit against the doorway. "Get up, extras! Storm's picking up. Make yourselves useful."

With his half-awake, Izuku reached for the boots he'd hung last night on the screws. They were still moist at the toes when he shoved his feet in.

…

There was no wind. Flags remained flat against the sides of poles. There was no change in temperature aside from slightly higher humidity. There were no clouds. In fact, there were no birds or the usual seals by the bay or any wildlife. Possibly off to seek shelter. Other than the abnormal water and missing animals, everything else seemed normal. Villagers ran out to close shops and collect their things or move to higher ground as muddy sea rose and clawed at the market area.

"Secure the safety lines, young ones!" All Might ordered under a smiling mask. "Yourselves first and foremost! You can tend to cargo later." He looked to Kirishima, the closest of the boys. "Bring out the nets and harpoons when you can, my boy."

Kirishima looked stunned for a second. "Harpoon… Ah – Got it, Captain!" He saluted and grinned eagerly, going off and drowning into the mess of crew going back and forth.

Shota approached the Captain from behind. "Seem familiar?"

Though his smile stayed firm, All Might couldn't shake the unease off his chest. "Maybe I'm jumping the gun, but if it's him, I'll be ready." Monster waves usually meant monsters. He had a feeling, though. A feeling in his gut; clawing; gnawing. The feeling of being watched by a predator. Something big was alive down there. He didn't want to say familiar.

"Sirs!" Sero, a skinny boy on the watchtower, called from above. Another wave hit and he toppled over and almost fell off. He hung by one hand and gestured with the other with his feet dangling. "Something's moving! Southeast! It's – It's enormous!"

That confirmed All Might's suspicions. From the look on Shota's, he wasn't the only one.

The hunt was on.

The alarm bell rang in a timed manner to alert the crew.

Izuku rechecked each secure line by pulling on them and tightening them to the mast. The other ends of the lines were tied to the crew's waists. They would grab onto the ropes when the sea decided it got bored and wanted to kick the ship again for the fun of it. He ran down to help secure the barrels from rolling around, looping and twisting ropes as he'd always known to do. "Bring out the weaponry. Captain's orders," someone yelled from somewhere. "Be on standby."

…

She swam with great difficulty through the current. It was impossible to tell if she was even going anywhere other than being tossed around. She couldn't breathe – couldn't see. Her tail flailed in an attempt to gain control. Something hard struck her back. Whatever it was, it was solid. She slowly drifted down, her spine exhausted. Blinking through her confusion, she saw a great wall of scales; a curved bridge with a fishy sail on top. Behind it, in the blurry background, was another scaly bridge, diving in the opposite direction. Behind that was more movement, and more movement. Between large scales were old harpoons, stuck there for years. The water turned muddy as the whale-sized snake ruffled sand from the seabed around with the simplest turns. It had no eyes. Its face was disfigured, as if it had been blown up or smashed years ago, leaving frontal teeth and gums and skeletal nose exposed.

It was too close to the island. The waves it was causing could flood the towns. She felt around. She was back against stone wall. Taking a daring glance around, up, down, she found giant jagged walls of rock, one after the other like underwater stony mountains. Ochaco swam up with difficulty and breached the surface. The sun was just coming up. She could see the ship closest to the cave. That must be the one Deku was on. Something wasn't right... The monster wasn't going anywhere. Was splashing around all it intended to do? The ship was coming this way. A thought hit her. Dread, then panic.

She rose with the water. A shadow blanketed the sea. She looked up and saw the massive tide. Switching from lunges to gills, she dove back underwater and followed the power of the current to take her to the ship. This had to work. If not, she couldn't think of how badly things could go wrong.

…

Lakes worth splashed onto deck. It was slippery. Wind meant the ship's front was nose-diving and they'd have to brace themselves for impact and the cool spray later. The thing was visible out of the water now. Multiple rings of how many times its body could circle itself. A black eel body. Either it had gotten closer too fast, or they'd reached a good distance in the short amount of time, or both.

Whatever was the case, Izuku wasn't sure what canon would turn this beast around. It had battle scars, accessories from past ships and almost no face left when it raised its head momentarily before another dive.

Sea Serpent… ate a civilization… overnight

His harpoon gun was suddenly a measly stick. All Might should've noticed by now. That was no ordinary sea monster. The man steered the ship, his muscular arms gripping the steering wheel in a death grip as another wave blanketed the deck. The flood seeped out from gaps, nooks and crannies. It left behind a present from the ocean.

"What – is that?"

A crowd gathered on deck, the younger ones wobbling on their feet. Izuku had to wrestle through wet bodies and push his way through, excusing himself to pass. There, in the center of the people, lay a half fish-half lady flat on her stomach. Excessive water rivered down the side of the ship pulled her motionless body across the wood floors, up to the railing. Her pink scales glistened and shifted as the tail curled.

He knew that girl. She was a nice girl.

People and voices and danger blurred into the background. His body moved by itself, because he never had time to command it. Confusion buzzed in the atmosphere when he was the first one to run to her and drop to his knees. "O… Ochaco?"

She heaved her head up to with some difficulty. She stuttered something in that language he did not understand. Then shook her head and whispered, "No go," – which he did understand.

"No go…" he repeated while unconsciously holding her hands. Don't go there. He patted his pants pockets for a solid formation.

"Midoriya," All Might stood by. Someone must've taken his position by the wheel. His eyes locked onto the mermaid, then turned to him for an answer. "What do you need, my boy?"

He located the crystal under the skin of his pocket. "I need light." The trust his mentor had in him was one of the things he'd hold with respect. The sky was orange and fluffy. He wasn't sure if direction or level of light reflection would affect this. The crew split, by the Captain's orders, as to not block sunlight. The crystal shone light bubbles over the wood floors and his and her skin.

"Please, turn around! It's a trap!"

…

The top of the rocky underwater bridge was deep enough to not be visible from above, but too close to the surface for their ship to cross over. It would scrape the bottom open. They could try and risk damage to the ship. There was no guarantee they'd be able to reach land if it started sinking out here.

The monster was on the other side, just waiting for them to fall into its trap, taking its sweet time. Come on. I dare you come to me, Sear Heroes. It had human intelligence. A colossal had the capability of formulating complex planes and thoughts. Human thought. A morbid thought. Human thought wasn't innocent. Then again, Izuku had to wonder what was considered human, or if that meant anything at all.

"I have no doubt he planned this," All Might said. "Damn him… Turn the ship."

Izuku saw the concern and rage building up in his mentor. He didn't hear someone crudely ask him something regarding his closeness to the mermaid; that could wait for another time.

"Umm… Captain?" Sero looked out, into the direction of where the monster had been spotted.

The waves had seized. The black fin was no longer sticking out of the foamy water. Something changed after they'd switched directions. The screw grew silent; each person gripping a gun or spear. Some were still throwing glances at the mermaid on the ship. The ones by the canons loaded up in a hurry. An invisible enemy made everyone panic. Had it figured out they knew not to approach it?

A snake tail suddenly exploded out of the water and people throw themselves out of the way just as it came down to smack the wooden floors which bent inward and cracked upon impact. Izuku had grabbed the mermaid and managed to carry her a few steps away before stumbling over the floor vibrations. The tail was shot by someone a few times before it slithered around to hit as many people on its way down the edge of the ship. A monstrous whistle rang like the song of a whale; painful to the ears and rattling bones.

A bump from beneath tilted the entire the ship. People slipped and got painfully saved by the safety lines around their waists. The mermaid slipped over the wet floor out of reach, past the few hands that tried to catch her, and, to Izuku's horror, disappeared over the end. Throwing caution to the wind, he took out his knife and slipped it over the safety rope, cutting himself loose. He dropped and caught himself at the railing.

"Deku?" She looked up at him from her awkward position in the boat that hung on the side of the ship. She hadn't thought he'd come after her.

The ship tilted again. A mountain raised out of the water. The serpent's head was pointed up to the sky; fins and gills out. Izuku realized what it was doing when it slowly started to fall to the side, performing a whale drop right onto the ship. Everything went in slow motion; he landed on the boat. There was cannon fire. The beast crashed into the ship with its body.

There wasn't much time to think. He held onto the base of the boat and swallowed salty bubbles. Wood bits flicked his cheeks. The boat jolted in his hands as his mermaid friend took advantage of her strength in this environment and pulled on the ropes at the end of the boat, pulling it with her with the speed of a marlin. They burst through a cloud of red that creep into the water and was darkening in color.

The boat – or what was left of it – surface and he gasped for air. Ochaco was still pulling it forward and the spray sprinkled his eyeballs. He lay on his stomach, and when he looked back, saw the missing end of the boat sledding the sea. The ship was on its side with a spiky hole where the serpent had smashed into it. Where was everyone? Where they all still on board?

The monsters' head stuck out once more. Its gills were bleeding. Between its open jaws was All Might keeping the beast's mouth open, his muscles straining. There was a sharp stick in his side; possibly a leftover from the ship. It wasn't clear how deep it was.

The monsters' head went down again, taking the Captain with it.

"Go back, please!" he yelled at Ochaco, hoping she'd understand, she'd hear him beneath that layer of darkening red.

She slowed to a stop to check back at him, bobbing in the sea with a look of concern on her face.

He threw his arm back, gesturing where he wanted to go. "Get me close, please!"

With a determined look, she dived and pulled his half-boat with her, U turning through the chopping waves. He had to shake his head to clear the water clinging to his eyelashes. It wasn't clear what was happening under the sea. Waves clashed and he wasn't sure if Ochaco was able to see through how bloody the water became. That wound on the serpent's gills was pouring. He hopped it was all from the serpent, at least. The ship was sinking at an incredibly slow pace. Or, perhaps, the constant waves prevented a steady sinking. Or it was just visual illusion and it was actually sinking fast but his mind wanted it to seem slow. Some of the crew hung by their wait ropes while trying to shoot at parts of the monster they could hardly see.

A bulge of wave swelled beneath him – the back of the monster, rising Ochaco and him and throwing them into the sky. He managed to grab onto the back fin of the thrashing monster. He only had so much time to use wisely. His free hand reached back for one of his knives, only to realize that holster was empty. He'd used one to cut himself free from the safety line, then lost the knife. Cold air chilled his face; a sign the monster was going down, about to dive. He had enough time to switch hands – grab the fin with that hand, reach for the other holster – bingo!

He stabbed the spine before the beast took him down with it.

…

Ochaco lost sight of her rider when the monster threw them. She knew, however, what he'd want her to do. Through the crimson swirls that evaporated and blended into the blue, she made out black scales, spears, lines, teeth, and the outline of the beast's half-closed mouth. Following it, she spotted the Captain at the corner of the mouth, holding the jaws open with great difficulty. He had his booted feet pressing the lower jaw down, and his hands pushing the upper jaw to the point of having his muscles bulge. A chain bubbled from the corner of his own mouth; a stick still in his side with a red ribbon reaching out of it. He wasn't doing so was underwater.

She had to get him out of there, somehow. Pull him out, maybe. That was her intention, originally. She hadn't expected the serpent to utter a pained roar. Nevertheless, it had momentarily released the Almighty Captain and she swooped in for the grab before it could shut its jaws again. She caught the man by the shirt and dragged him up. People needed air. Fast.

The second she brought him to the top, a pink tongue shot out and grabbed the man by the waist, pulling him out and onto the tilted ship. She saw her green-skinned friend, Tsuyu, stuck to the side of the ship, getting splashed by rough waves. The frog girl went back to using her long tongue to adjust crew members who lost their weapons or were hanging from their ropes and couldn't get up. They freaked out after feeling a slippery pink rope come out of nowhere then slip away. A few boys grabbed the Captain who was dropped by the alien tongue on board.

The angry boy – the one she heard yell 'Deku' – had one boot planted on the mast, and a gun pointed down. He yelled, fired, and a rope followed the harpoon.

The water exploded. The head immerged pointing up like a mountain. Deku was still on its back. He had a dagger embedded into its spine. There were slits along the spine where he'd stabbed multiple times. The new harpoon was a foot or saw above his head. He growled and stabbed his way forward.

A pink octopus was clinging to the monster's face. She wasn't sure when or how Mina had gotten there, but she was very glad. "Eat my acid! Wah–" With a head flick, Mina was flung off. There was a still-steaming, star-shaped scar on the serpent's face.

The monster dove, and the bridge of its body followed like a train.

Diving. Diving. It was diving.

Deku was still on it.

She went down as well, following the red clouds. She went past side fins and rows of scales. Suddenly, the beast jolted and slowed down. Instead, it started tilting to its side. The power of the current died down.

Its back, where Deku had been, had a slice missing. A chunk had been cut out, possibly damaging the spinal cord. Loose scales flattered and shimmered, spinning like pennies. It was hard to see the mess of stringy flesh from all the smoky red. A shadow of a dagger handle was stuck in between scale-less flesh. Her friend wasn't on its back anymore, but floating limply, his eyes closed and mouth slightly open.

She grabbed his unmoving body and swam to the surface in a hurry, holding onto him tightly. He was dying with every second. Even when she brought him to air, his head lolled to the side. Time was killing him. Water was killing him. She slapped his cheek and shook. It was hard to breathe because he wasn't breathing.

Perhaps she was hitting him too hard. She had been panicking. His cheek had turned pink. However, he made a noise and his eyelids twitched. As the beast and ship sunk, and people grabbed onto wood and makeshift boats for support, she held onto her person in the middle of that rosy sea. Their clam shell necklaces tangled with each other, forming one clam.

…

The oil lamps lit the dark wood and rugs a warm orange. Whatever Shota had been reading, he'd stopped the moment Toshinori stepped into the room with a cane under one armpit.

"Ah, sorry. I was coming to check on the little miss," he said, withholding a cough. He'd lost a tremendous amount of weight over the years. Shota was in a chair by a bed with a large, thick book on his lap, paper edges stuck out from the sides. In the humongous bed, Eri looked like a tiny mouse. The horn on the side of her head was a smooth, harmless bump. The blanket was all the way up to her chin. She blinked sleepily at him.

He leaned against his cane, his hand atop the ball of the cane. The cane's tip made a thud with every step forward, so he lifted it off the floor despite his weak muscles. "Pardon me, young lady. I didn't mean to disturb you."

She yawned. "Aizawa was telling me a story…"

All Might, now just Toshinori, leaned over to peak at a page. "The Mermaid and the Cabin Boy. A favorite of mine," he confessed.

Shota cleared his throat, annoyed by his presence. He'd been in the middle of putting the girl off to bed and waiting for her to sleep to a story when the long-faced man had barged in.

"Okay, I should be off, now. Have a good night, you two." He closed the door quietly behind him and went back to relying on his cane again, going through the hallway, past closed doors, his shoes and cane going thump-tuck-tuck and thump-tuck-tuck along the vibrating world, feeling the gravity shift.

He heard the familiar popping sound of multiple tentacles' suckers being pulled off the wood. Mina took up the majority of the hallway thanks to her tentacles hugging up the walls. She wore a jacket from one of the crew and a bandana on her head.

"Kitchen's all clean, sir!" she announced proudly. "Should I tell the Captain?"

He coughed, muffling a smile. "It's alright. I'll go tell him. You can head to bed."

"Alrighty!" More popping sounds. She stuck to the ceiling, went above him, went around and headed to go up the stairs.

He followed her path, climbing up the stairs, the dark, sparkly sky coming into view. There was a splash and a feminine giggle. The deck of the new ship had three wooden tubs by the railing. The jacket and bandana Mina had been wearing was on the floor by one of the tubs. Tentacles splashed water over at the other tub next door then draped over the edge. A Pink and black tailfin came up from the second tub to act as a shield, the owner of the tail giggling. Ochaco usually swam by the ship or under during the days. She'd be pulled up on deck for rests or meals or to sleep. The tubs were to keep her skin from drying out. Toshinori looked behind him and saw Katsuki on the wheel, and up above, perched atop of the tall watch tower, was Tsuyu, blending into her job of watching the waves and the sky.

"All Might?" Izuku turned away from leaning against the railing and stepped down the few steps, tilting the massive captain hat that looked abnormal on him.

"Just Toshinori, my boy," he said, patting him on the shoulder.

Izuku smiled. You're always All Might to me, All Might!"

His boy, now a man, was captain of his own ship, and yet, was still his boy. "Ashido's done her work for the day. I've sent her off to bed."

"Heard her. Thanks!" He stared walked toward the tubs.

"Walked in on Aizawa's been reading your book to Eri," he said, chuckling.

Izuku looked shocked. "He read to her?"

Toshinori laughed lightly. "He may look hard as stone, but he's a softie at heart." Shota Aizawa proclaimed himself as Eri's bodyguard. Toshinori couldn't name any bodyguards that read bedtime stories or tucked kids into bed, or breaded the kid's hair, but the skinny man figured it was safer to keep his thoughts to himself.

Izuku rubbed the middle of his gloved palm with his thumb, thinking. "Hmm."

"You did well, my boy."

"Is she going to be okay? Eri, I mean."

Well, it wasn't everyday pirates hid a baby unicorn in a wooden crate in chains below deck like cargo. She didn't look the pretty unicorn told in stories to kids. She had chains for a harness and scars, skin and bones for a body. Her horn was on the side of her head and her eyes were blood red. She quivered like a sick fawn, afraid the world would eat her, and her eyes had the illusion of bulging out due to protruding cheekbones. Her white mane was a long mess. Unicorn horns were said to cure diseases. Many fake unicorn horns taken from narwhals were sold for thousands and fought over. Truths and lies mixed in a grey area. There was a unicorn, but she was the one in need of healing.

Their intention had been to, at least, get her off the pirate ship. Then, perhaps then, they'd figure where to put her next. The pirates hadn't been very… nice… to say the least. Some had fought, some snuck in, and some were back-up hiding underwater, which came in handing. Ochaco and Mina knew when and where to strike. With a crowbar and gentle persuasion onto their ship, the unicorn morphed into a human child right before their eyes. A small girl hid in a nest of her own hair. Toshinori thought he had been hallucinating at the time.

The girl, now Aizawa's favorite, was no hallucination.

"She's on the right ship, with the right Captain."

Izuku smiled shyly. "You should get to bed, too. You must be tired." He looked up at the platform where Katsuki held the wheel. "Kacchan, are you taking Kirishima's night shift?"

"I already said I am! I don't need to repeat myself!"

"Just making sure," Izuku said more to himself. He turned to Toshinori and pointed to his own forehead. "I remember Kirishima saying he had a bad headache earlier. I'm glad Kacchan took his night shift for tonight."

There was a gentle splash by one of the tubs. Ochaco hung her arms over the edge. She yawned and rested her cheek on the edge, smiling tiredly. Izuki nuzzled her face and gave her a kiss. He said something to her in mermaid language he came to learn from her – probably apologizing for something. And like usual, she hugged his neck and he was ready to pick her up. There was an extra tub in the Captain's Quarters. It made the Captain's place more humid, but he didn't mind.

He hugged her close. And she briefly waved at Toshinori before gripping the Captain's neck again. "Goodnight, All Might." She had learned to speak more, and how to tie the back of her hair, as well as a few other things, such as what books were and what reading was, what other food tasted like, how they looked like before they were in a stew, the wonder of fire, the joy of giving Izuku and Eri boat rides by pulling on the rope or fetching the child things from the bottom of the ocean.

"Goodnight, you two. I'll be in in a moment," he promised, leaning onto the ball of his cane as soon as their figures became less solid as they went down the few steps through the hall. Of poor health and old age, he wouldn't last long, he expected. He wasn't sure if he was afraid of death itself or missing out on Izuku's life, or both.

A black mass blocked the stars as it flew with the grace of a stingray and sound of sails. Maybe whatever that was had big, silent wings? Maybe he'd never know.

Izuku almost stumbled down a step. "O-Ochako – Tail! You're tail…" he stammered.

She giggled childishly. "Sorry. My bad. My bad." She curled her tail around his back.

Toshinori smiled. Maybe it was best to not worry over tomorrow's what-ifs. Not in a headache-inducing manner, anyway. Here was his boy, a full-grown man with his own trusted crew. Incredible, yet real. He lived this far. He could live longer.

Swimming next to the large ship, the large sea turtle lifted her head to breathe moist air before diving. The fresh island growing on the back of its shell waved like seagrass. It headed to the merfolk sanctuary that waited far away, riding the waves to save energy for the long ride home.

…

* * *

_Note: _

_\- Had to watch a few documentaries of underwater wildlife for this. Was very informative, I have to say. _

_\- A few references to How To Train Your Dragon, there. _

_\- Had a lot of fun with this. Started off not knowing what I was doing but it kicked off once strings started forming._


End file.
